Certain persons suffer from conditions that require the utilization of tight fitting bandages that enclose the limb, generally the leg. These bandages may be of the type referred to as pressure gradient bandages as exemplified by the Unna boot. For example a diabetic patient or a patient with venous valvular insufficiency may have black and blue legs on which ulcers break out due to impaired circulation. In order to treat such conditions, bandages are used because they produce an improved blood and lymphatic circulation, reduce edema and promote healing. It is generally a thin bandage wrapped relatively tight to cause the blood to flow through the black and blue area which is ulcerated. The bandages are not kept on for weeks until a bone mends but, rather, are removed within a day or two and replaced as required. Such bandages when applied are wet with a medicine and generally harden somewhat. The problem in the past has been that when such types of bandages are removed, the person removing it must spend considerable amounts of time, often up to about one half hour by one of two methods. The first method has been to attempt to put one blade of a scissors beneath the bandage and to cut along the bandage. This it is clear hurts the severely damaged leg of the patient wearing a bandage such as a Unna boot. The other method has been to apply a razor blade to slice the bandage. In this circumstance, it causes nicks to the already damaged flesh of such a bandaged person.
Patients suffering these disorders cannot heal these cuts as easily as others. Furthermore, the skin beneath the bandage may become edematous and swollen so that it is both harder to fit a bandage scissors beneath the bandage and easier to cut into the skin.
Means of addressing the problem of cutting through rigid plaster casts without cutting the underlying skin are taught by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,187,175; 2,206,339; 2,230,781 and 4,041,941 which provide spaced channels beneath the cast for admission of the cutting tool. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,299,125 and 2,523,837 provide cutting strips that engage the plaster and cut through the cast when pulled upward. These techniques are not directed to, nor are they particularly effective in the removal of bandages of the type herein discussed.
In the past, various devices have been developed for protecting skin wounds, particularly surgical wounds. However, such devices are generally of the type which are positioned adjacent to the opposite sides of a wound to maintain a bandage out of immediate contact with the skin to prevent the bandage from adhering to the wound and to allow free circulation of air. The present device is not concerned with protecting wounds, burns, cuts, sores or other sensitive areas of the body nor in supporting a bandage above them. Rather, it is concerned with the removal of the bandage without imposing new cuts or injuries to the patient. It is of a barrier which underlies the bandage which is cut so that it is of a length longer than the bandage so that the opposite ends extend from it and wherein a guide indicia is provided so that one may have a sight for manipulating the tool removing the bandage. Examples of prior art protective devices are found in the following U.S. Patents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,134,399 is of a protective device which is used as a shield for a wound or sensitive skin barrier by providing a support for a bandage to be held out of contact with the wound or sensitive skin area. U.S. Pat. No. 3,068,863 is of a patch which is attachable to the face and eyelid of a wearer to protect the eye. The device of U.S. Pat. No. 2,933,083 is of a surgical dressing and reinforcement for treating minor fractures. U.S. Pat. No. 3,304,938 is of a bandage support which is to be positioned at a wound site and to support the bandage above the wound itself.